Which was better – the classic books or the movies they inspired?

The age-old debate: what’s better, the book or the movie? Most of the time, the book gets the vote, but that’s not always the case. Here are 13 of the most iconic films of all time that bring the story from page to screen. Which ones do it better? Find out.

Just as sweeping as the novel, the film does an incredible job at chronicling the epic story, but ultimately loses Mitchell’s essence of eloquence that makes her 1,000-page masterpiece all but impossible to put down.

Alfred Hitchcock turned an unknown short story into a sensation, creating a thriller with suspense that transcends the screen. Even over 60 years later, you’ll never look at birds the same way once you see the film.

Although there are some crucial differences, the film impeccably captures the characters’ depths of humanity. Harper Lee even gave it her stamp of approval, declaring she was “one happy author, it was a beautiful and moving picture.”

Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford take your breath away with an electric onscreen chemistry emotionally enhanced by an Oscar-winning score married to an extraordinary story that stays true to the novel.

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford immediately lock you in as Washington Post journalists trying to blow the lid on the Watergate scandal, whereas the book can become weighed down by political jargon, interrupting the flow of the story.

Meryl Streep wholeheartedly embodies Isak Dinesen’s years of running a coffee plantation in Kenya with grace and precision, surrounded by stunning scenery, while telling a tale that stays absolutely true to the spirit of Dinesen’s memoir.